


passing hands

by ifloveistheanswer



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Kirk/Uhura Friendship, M/M, girltalkin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 17:36:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1436920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifloveistheanswer/pseuds/ifloveistheanswer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uhura makes sure that Jim will take care of his Vulcan boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	passing hands

**Author's Note:**

> i have never written star trek fanfiction before and i am afraid and confused

"And he likes his tea hot. Like, really hot. If you make it for him first thing in the morning, he really appreciates it. As for food, it's hard to tell what he likes because everything is either 'satisfactory' or else he won't eat it, but you'll get a feel for it over time."  
  
Jim nods his understanding and shifts in his seat, feeling strangely like he ought to be taking notes. Uhura's been listing off Spock's quirks and preferences for the last few minutes of their lunch conversation, and she's beginning to sound more like she's talking about a particularly finicky cat that she wants Jim to petsit rather than her ex-boyfriend.  
  
"Hmm, what else… Oh, this may seem obvious, but he can get weird about public displays of affection, so if you—"  
  
"Uhura," Jim interjects, willing his voice to be gentle enough that Uhura won't snap at him for interrupting.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I'll take good care of him. I promise I will." His fingers clench around the caps of his knees, but he speaks as though he's got one hand on a Bible. He's never meant anything quite as fiercely as he means this. "I might screw up sometimes. But I swear, I'll do my best to make it right every time. I… care a lot about Spock."  
  
It's a gross understatement, but despite the strange sort of rapport the two of them have formed over loving and having loved the same person, Jim doesn't feel quite valiant enough to declare his love for the infuriating Vulcan to anyone else just yet. His feelings towards Spock are personal in a way that Jim never before knew romance could be. (He's done _passion_ before, even _infatuation_ , but those are as bold and showy as others have grown to expect from him. Now, devotion… adoration… weak knees and butterflies and the fleeting idea that they belong at each other's sides, _that's_ unfamiliar territory for James Tiberius "Bicycle" Kirk. He doesn't want his crew to see him out of his element.)  
  
Despite his intentional brevity, Uhura's a linguist, and she reads everything he's got hiding behind his back in the lines of his face, in the stilted timbre of his words. She hears what he doesn't say, and he can't decide if he loathes her or loves her for it. In any case, his approach has the desired effect, and she softens. "I know you do. I'd just… hate for you to make the same mistakes Spock and I made with each other."  
  
Her voice lacks any longing or regret. She speaks as though they're discussing something slightly embarrassing she did over a decade ago. But still, Jim feels obligated to respond with empathy. "Don't call it a mistake. Some people just—" and this is harder for him to say than he'd expect, especially because a small part of him still feels like he took Spock away from her, "—just aren't meant to be."  
  
"Yeah," she says simply, glancing down at her well-manicured nails as though she's painted some kind of cheat sheet onto them.  
  
A small pause. And then, "…You really love him," Jim utters like it's some kind of abrupt realization. He feels stupid for stating something so obvious, but he trusts Uhura to understand exactly what he means by it.  
  
"Yeah, I do. But I think… maybe not in the way that I thought I did. And definitely not in the way that you do." She lifts a hand as if to touch him but then thinks better of it, instead opting to rest it in her lap. "And don't think I gave him up for your sake or anything stupid like that. Spock and I split on good terms. On _our_ terms. I still might steal him from you now and then for hangouts, too. He's still my friend."  
  
"Why steal him? You can borrow both of us whenever you want, you know." Jim offers a small grin, though he lacks the energy to accompany it with a lift of the brows or anything really approaching lecherous. "But in all seriousness… thank you. I needed to hear that."  
  
Uhura smiles an odd smile that crinkles the bottoms of her eyelids, though Jim didn't say anything all that funny or sentimental. She's a dazzling, beautiful woman, and it's somehow fitting that Jim would find himself falling for her in a way so completely different from the ways he's fallen for other women. Fondness swells in his chest, and it doesn't make him want to kiss her or date her or sleep with her. It makes him want to hold her up when she falls, and laugh with her when she laughs, and implicitly trust her to do everything she does best (which, unsurprisingly, comprises of a _lot_ of things, so that necessitates a lot of trust; he thinks he can manage).  
  
Jim gathers the courage that Uhura lacked and touches his pads to the delicate bumps of her knuckles. Okay, so he has to amend that earlier thought: maybe kissing her wouldn't be so bad. Just something brief and friendly to the small, smooth expanse of her cheekbones. It'd be a waste for nobody to be kissing a pretty face like that. But he's yet to learn if Spock's the jealous type, so he refrains. Still. She's a lot more compelling to look at when one is seated in her good favors.

She doesn't recoil from his touch, so he follows through with the motion and covers her hand with his, giving it a small squeeze. "And thanks again for all the advice. I'll keep that tea thing in mind." Not wanting to overstay his welcome, he sees her off with a light pat and retracts his hands back to his knees.  
  
Uhura stares down for a moment before declaring with a tinge of humor, "Is it weird that I feel closer to you now that you're going steady with my ex? Surely there must be something wrong with me."  
  
Jim knows the _right_ way to respond would be a respectful expression of gratitude and an admission of reciprocation, so instead he chirps, "Spock and I _are_ pretty good looking together. Can't blame you for enjoying the view, really. Don't worry, I don't judge what gets people hot under the collar. Hey, if you ever want a show, I'm sure we could convince Spock to—"  
  
When she smacks him across the head, she does it with a smirk and a lighter-than-usual hand, and really, Jim can't say he doesn't deserve it. He takes his thrashing with good humor and a wink.  
  
Uhura scoops up her empty food tray and stands to leave the table. "Keep that up and I'll never let you call me by my first name. Consider that a warning."  
  
Jim leans on an elbow and croons after her, "Love you too." If the approaching Spock lifts a questioning brow at the two as he sinks into the seat next to his boyfriend, Jim pretends not to notice.


End file.
